We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!

On Monday, the 8th, we all four had appointments to see our holistic practitioner in Louisville. While we love to visit with her, we are usually ready to stretch our legs and have some fun after a morning in her office. So ... we decided to go to the Louisville Zoo for a few hours before heading back to Bowling Green.

This was taken in a dark shelter, and we were trying to figure out what we were looking for. Smile!

Hilarious! This orangutan showed himself right after I took that last picture. The boys were amazed! 

Yes, on the other side of that glass was a very curious, very hairy guy! The boys, of course, thought he was funny.

Isn't he something? HUGE, but just hanging out.

They had the Halloween festivities out, and the boys had fun checking out the different stops. In my opinion, this is the way to do it - no crowds!

Here's another orangutan. The boys had many questions about the "spot on its lip." Do orangutans have moles? 

Inside an aviary, Heath made friends with this pretty bird. It wasn't scared of him, came right up and starting making some crazy noises.

Heath couldn't get enough of it. I think Cash was telling Daddy to "stop that" in this picture.

Penguins are great. The boys would agree.

The realistic backdrop made me feel like I was in Antarctica. (not really)

But the fun boulders in the penguin room were fun to climb on!

"Um, I'm not sure you're supposed to be in there boys."

"You be the girl, mommy, and I'll be the boy." Okay! :)

And last on the route (that we took) was the giraffe. 

Seriously, a membership to the zoo is the best idea ever!

"Jus' like my daddy"

The boys went to a birthday party yesterday where they were giving pirate tattoos to all the kids. A friend asked B where he wanted his tattoo, and he said, "Right here, jus' like my daddy." He pointed to his right shoulder. Cash wanted his on his hand, but later asked me to put his extra one on his shoulder, too. When Heath got home, they showed him their tattoos. I think he was proud. So proud, in fact, they he applied one, too, and posed for a picture with his boys.

Disney on Ice - Part 2

As the lights dimmed, the music started and ...

 

 

Mickey and Minnie arrived on their car!

 

Next came Mater - one of the boys' favorites.

 

I tried to get pictures of their faces, too, not just what was going on down front. They were loving it!

 

Of course, with Flo and Mater, Lightning McQueen had to come next!

 

After the Cars theme, all the characters from The Little Mermaid came out. Growing up, this was one of my favorite movies. I don't think Cash and B have seen it, but they didn't seem to mind. It was fast-moving and colorful!

 

There's Ariel!

 

He was in a Disney-overload daze.

 

After all the fairies performed, Minnie, Mickey, Donald and Goofy came back out in their finest!

 

This was Heath's favorite. These toy army men from Toy Story 3 were great!

 

Woody, Buzz, Slink, Jessie, the Potato Heads, Barbie -- it was great!

 

Oh, no! Here come the screaming rough-housing daycare toddlers!

 



 

It was fun! The boys loved it, and talked about it non-stop the next day! It was a fun surprise for a short fall break afternoon.

Disney on Ice Surprise!

A few months ago, a friend posted a special code on Facebook. If you used the code on Ticketmaster's website, you could get Disney on Ice tickets for just $17 each. What a deal, right? I looked into the show to see if I thought the boys would like it, it featured characters from Cars, the Little Mermaid, Toy Story 3 and Tinkerbell. They had watched three of the four and loved Cars and Toy Story movies, so I figured they would like it. It was during Cash's fall break, so I thought it might be a fun outing for the family. I got the tickets and kept it a secret, even from Heath, until the week of! Wow, I'm good!

So Thursday after lunch, I loaded the boys into the car and we headed to Nashville. They napped on the way, and we stopped at Heath's office in Goodlettsville to pick him up. Here they are super excited waiting for daddy.

Yay! We ate supper at Chuy's on Broadway then walked over to Bridgestone Arena. Here are my boys outside - love how Cash and B are holding hands!

Me and my boys - notice Heath took the picture with the crane in the background, not the arena.

When we got inside, we told the boys they could pick out one toy from the Disney table. B picked out Buzz's ray gun (which made fun noises!)

and Cash picked out a Disney sword - of course! :)

B and Heath waiting for the show to start. Their faces were priceless as they looked around the arena and were in amazement at the ice.

And the show starts -- look at the expressions! (all three of them)

to be continued...

A walk in our "big tree forest"

One afternoon after naps this week, we decided to go on a walk through the "big tree forest." You see, our neighbors, M and L have always owned the "big tree forest" (this is what Cash calls it), but this month, we decided to buy the property from them so now it's officially our "big tree forest," although Cash's still refers to it as theirs. *sigh*

Goggles, boots and jacket on - ready to go!

But first the motorcycle had a flat, and it had to be fixed...

Big brother waiting patiently - he loves taking walks around the yard and through the woods. (I do, too!)

Here we go! Everything was so green and pretty and TALL! We had to make our own path down the hill being careful to watch for "sticker bushes."

B had his "whapping stick." It's for "whapping those 'ticker bushes."

It never fails that we have company on our walks.

Off we go. I LOVE this kind of time with my boys. Being outside, fresh air, watching them explore and learn. They are so big.

And cute!

Told ya so.

This branch was in the way. It was a good thing that Baylen brought along his hand saw. :)

We finally made it through the "big tree forest," and of course, we had to spend some time at the gravel pile.

I remarked at how colorful the trees and bushes were, so Cash said he would stand in front of it so I could take his picture.

Monkey see, monkey do. Oh, how I love my monkeys!

Trains!

On Saturday after the race, the whole family, except for Heath because he was hunting, met at the Historic Train Museum in BG to take a tour. The Smithsonian Magazine was hosting FREE MUSEUM day, so we all got in for free. Yay!

Our tour didn't leave for a few minutes, so we were able to look around inside for awhile. The boys were fascinated by the model trains they had. We were kind of bummed that the huge one up top wasn't working though. But they did have fun pushing the button and watching this one go round.

Big smile! B had been excited all week long to go see the trains. I think he was more excited about seeing Kennick and Grandad though!

This button sure got a workout!

Here's a shot of the cool track up top. It wasn't working though. Maybe if we get to go back sometime it will be speeding down the line...

This is where the tour started. We weren't supposed to push the button for the audio tour, but "someone" goofed and it. (There was a wedding going on in the main hall.) Oops.

He had the perfect view of the model trains from here!

He we go on the tour. Cash wanted to hold Grandad's hand, and B wanted to hold Bubba's hand, so I trailed along in the back taking pictures. *sigh*

The first car we toured was the mail car (like Percy, said Cash). To think that men were organizing, sorting, throwing out backs and catching new bags all while speeding down the tracks at 55-80 mph blows my mind. I would have been so motion sick!

Here they are testing out the benches in the next car. We went from car to car looking at the different parts; kitchens, travel cars, dining cars - it was all so very neat.

B wanted a picture of him and Grammy sitting in this side of the travel car. 

The Oldenkamps enjoying the President's "lounging" area (president of the rail company).

Grandad with his three blond boys on the back of the caboose.

They seriously loved just running around outside with Kennick.

Oh, but the best part was the train that thundered past while we were coming back from the tour. Notice the boys covering their ears. Cash said it was Gordon because it was going so fast and pulling such a long load (wong woad). :)

We all stood and watched as it roared past. Interesting enough, it was completely empty.

My favorite pic of the day. Love these two!